Brian Cox & Jeff Forshaw

Professor Brian Cox OBE is Professor of Particle Physics at the University of Manchester, The Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science and a Fellow of the Royal Society.

He is a hugely successful television presenter, and has received many awards for his work promoting science. His television and radio credits include 21st Century Space Race, Forces of Nature, Human Universe, Wonders of Life, Wonders of the Universe, Wonders of the Solar System, a series on Einstein for BBC Radio 4, three BBC Horizon programmes and a BBC4 documentary about the LHC at CERN, The Big Bang Machine. He was the Science Advisor on Danny Boyle’s science-fiction thriller Sunshine.

Brian has also worked in the music business, having toured the world with various bands and played keyboard with D:REAM, who had several UK Top 10 hits including Things Can Only Get Better (re-released and used as Tony Blair’s election anthem in 1997).

Brian co-wrote the books that accompany his television series Forces of Nature,Human Universe, Wonders of Life, Wonders of the Universe and Wonders of the Solar System, and a Christmas annual to accompany his popular BBC Radio 4 series Infinite Monkey Cage, which he co-hosts with comedian, Robin Ince.

He received an OBE for his contribution science in 2010.

Professor Jeff Forshaw is Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Manchester, specializing in the physics of elementary particles. In 1999, he was awarded the Institute of Physics Maxwell Medal for ‘outstanding contributions to theoretical physics’. He graduated from Oxford University and gained a PhD from Manchester University. Jeff has written over 100 scientific papers and his undergraduate textbook Dynamics & Relativity and academic monograph ‘Quantum Chromodynamics and the Pomeron’ both received critical acclaim. He appears frequently on television and radio discussing science.

Brian and Jeff have collaborated for many years and co-wrote the global bestsellers Universal, Quantum Universe and Why Does E=mc2?

Northbank Talent Management represents Brian Cox for books.

Media & Coverage

Books

Universal: A Journey Through the Cosmos

Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw

We dare to imagine a time before the Big Bang, when the entire Universe was compressed into a space smaller than an atom. And now, as Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw show, we can do more than imagine: we can understand. Over the centuries, the human urge to discover has unlocked an incredible amount of knowledge. What it reveals to us is breathtaking.

Universal takes us on an epic journey of scientific exploration and, in doing so, reveals how we can all understand some of the most fundamental questions about our Earth, Sun, Solar System and the star-filled galaxies beyond. Some of these questions – How big is our solar system? How fast is space expanding? – can be answered from your back garden; the answers to others – How big is the Universe? What is it made of? – draw on the astonishing information now being gathered at the frontiers of the known universe. Science reveals a deeper beauty, connects us to our world, and to our Universe; and, by understanding the groundbreaking work of others, reaches out into the unknown. What’s more, as Universal shows us, if we dare to imagine, we can all do it.

‘There is still much to learn about our universe. Universal will help inspire those who share my fascination with our planets, the solar system and beyond.’

— Buzz Aldrin

‘Cox and Forshaw stand together at the cutting edge of their discipline … despite their elevated status, both men remain tiggerishly excitable about their subject … they popularize without dumbing down.’

— Financial Times

‘They do a great job of bringing a difficult subject to life.’

— Times

‘Acclaimed British physicists Cox and Forshaw team up once again in this accessible, lucid, and entertaining introduction to cutting-edge astrophysics and cosmology.’

— Publishers Weekly, starred review

The Quantum Universe: Everything That Can Happen Does Happen

Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw

From the bestselling authors of Why does E=mc2? comes The Quantum Universe, in which Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw go on a brilliantly ambitious mission to show that everyone can understand the deepest questions of science.

But just what is quantum physics? How does it help us understand our amazing world? Where does it leave Newton and Einstein? And why, above all, can we be sure that the theory is good?

Here, Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw give us the real science behind the bizarre behaviour of the atoms and energy that make up the universe. They reveal exactly how everything that can happen, does happen.

‘A scientific match made in heaven … as breezily written an account of the theory of quantum physics as you could wish for – from the Planck constant to the Higgs particle and everything theoretically in between.’

— Observer

‘Mindblowing … what is novel about this attempt is that the writers take an intellectual rather than a historical approach … it is a surprisingly rich idea that allows the authors to avoid using too much mathematics.’

— Sunday Times

‘A serious and thorough but charming work about quantum theory.’

— Financial Times

‘With clear prose and helpful diagrams, (Cox and Forshaw) march the reader along a series of arguments so that nonspecialists can get a sense of where the core concepts come from … (an) engaging, ambitious and creative tour of our quantum universe.’

— Guardian

‘The reader is made to work along the way and for those prepared to do so there is much to learn.’

‘[The Quantum Universe] brings the reader to reconsider his immediate environment in a new light. For example, the palpable matter surrounding us and of which we are made is essentially empty. So full of nothing that the reader would be astonished of not going more easily through his chair, and worse, to be able to address this improbable thought with scientific reasoning …. deserves attention since it offers a real opportunity for motivated non-physicists to discover the inner workings of quantum physics.’

— Le Monde

Why Does E=mc²?

Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw

Shortlisted for the Royal Society Prize for Science Books 2010.

This is an engaging and accessible explanation of Einstein’s equation which explores the principles of physics through everyday life. In this riveting, deeply informative exploration of Einstein’s famous equation, Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw go on a journey to the frontier of 21st-century science to consider the real meaning behind the iconic sequence of symbols that make up Einstein’s most famous equation. Breaking down the symbols themselves, they pose a series of questions: What is energy? What is mass? What has the speed of light got to do with energy and mass?

In answering these questions, they take us to the site of one of the largest scientific experiments ever conducted. Lying beneath the city of Geneva, straddling the Franco-Swiss boarder, is a 27-km particle accelerator, known as the Large Hadron Collider. Using this gigantic machine – which can recreate conditions in the early Universe fractions of a second after the Big Bang – Cox and Forshaw describe the current theory behind the origin of mass.

‘In Why Does E=mc2? Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw tackle the most famous equation of all time in a remarkably comprehensive way … the pair make some surprising points that I haven’t seen expressed in quite the same way.’

— New Scientist on the Royal Society 2010 shortlist.

‘They have blazed a clear trail into forbidding territory, from the mathematical structure of space-time all the way to atom bombs, astrophysics and the origin of mass.’

— New Scientist

‘A brilliant starting point for any non-expert who wants to understand the most important equation yet formulated. This is a lucid and intelligent book … The idea that space and time are not immutable constants is fundamental and dizzyingly exciting.’

— The Times

‘Pairs the enthusiasm of newcomers with the knowledge of experts.’

— Physics World

‘Many authors have tried to explain [the equation’s] origins, with mixed results. It’s hard to think of two authors more qualified for the job than Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw … They do a grand job of answering the question in the book’s title, and of tying it to the cutting edge of 21st century physics.’

— BBC Focus Magazine

‘[It] remind[s] us that Einstein’s equation is not some esoteric idea best pondered by scientific supermen, but a profound insight that continues to change lives … Cox and Forshaw’s enthusiasm for their material is plain.’

— Boston Globe

‘Cox and Forshaw take the equation that all of us know and few of us understand – and make it crystal clear for all of us. A thrilling experience of passionate comprehension.’

— Ann Druyan, co-writer, COSMOS televison series

‘If you’ve ever wanted to understand the basic principles of energy, mass and light there’s no better place to learn.’